Bibliometric analysis on splenic artery aneurysms in vascular surgery

Splenic artery aneurysm (SAA) represents the most prevalent form of visceral aneurysm. Despite its relatively low overall incidence, advancements in diagnostic techniques have led to a rising detection rate. The rupture of an SAA constitutes a crucial medical emergency, garnering increasing attention in management protocols. Despite this urgency, there is a lack of bibliometric analyses concerning studies on splenic aneurysms. This study aims to address this gap by conducting a comprehensive bibliometric analysis, elucidating crucial research directions, co-occurrence relationships, and the current research landscape in this field. Publications related to SAA research were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection platform. CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and R package “bibliometrix” were employed to construct relevant network diagrams and facilitate comprehensive analyses. The bibliometric analysis encompassed performance metrics, such as publication statistics, top publishing countries, top publishing institutions, publishing journals and co-cited journals, authors and co-cited authors, co-cited references statistics, citation bursts statistics, keyword statistics and trend topic statistics, and science mapping, such as citations by country, citations by institution, citations by journal, citations by author, co-citation analysis, and keyword co-occurrence. Overall, this study elucidates the focal points and emerging trends identified through bibliometric analysis. Based on the findings from our bibliometrics analysis, we illuminated the developmental trajectory, distribution of contributions, and research hotspots concerning SAA. Researchers are increasingly focusing on treatment selection for SAA, with many clinical centers delving deeper into this field. Literature suggests that the treatment of SAA should be individualized, with endovascular interventions emerging as the primary preference, while open surgery remains a viable final recourse in select cases. However, we should also acknowledge that the limitations of the small sample size and lack of basic research on SAA have hindered the development of this field. Further exploration into the pathogenesis of SAA is warranted to address these gaps and propel advancements in this field.